Hal Lifson: Living the Beverly Hills Lifestyle One Story at a Time

Beverly Hills natives use verbal shorthand as distinctive as a New York accent or a Texas drawl. If you rode a 10-speed along Elevado, ate Swensen’s Bubble Gum ice cream or scaled the enormous Moreton Bay Fig tree at the corner of Park Way and Beverly Drive, the code is: you’re from Beverly Hills.

That’s what made meeting publicist Hal Lifson at the BHHS track so weird. Hal gushed over the quality of a BHUSD education and touted the merits of a BeverLiz Café turkey burger. Even his knowledge of 1960’s Beverly Hills fooled me into thinking Hal was a native. Hal Lifson is, in fact, an Encino Valley boy.

Not one to let a zip code get in his way, as a teenager Hal found many friends at BHHS. Years later when he and his wife Brigitte started a family, they decided once and for all to set down roots in Beverly Hills. “Option A,” Hal explained, “Live in the valley in a beautiful mid-century home and keep our fingers crossed on the charter school or Option B, have access to schools like El Rodeo and Beverly Hills High and live in an apartment.”

At first, Hal wondered if his family would be accepted. “We found out real fast there are so many families facing the same dilemma about moving to an apartment for a quality education.”

Hal is a work-at-home dad, which affords him time to spend with his daughters. A former marathoner, Hal frequently brings his girls to the Beverly Hills High School track to support Coach Jeff Fisher’s successful Cross Country and Track Team. He thinks athletes are good role models for the girls. He should know. He represents several Olympic medalists including Nick Symmonds.

He also represents Beverly Hills Mom, Brenda Soleimani who is, against all stereotypes, pursuing modeling after age 40.

From BH Mom to Supermodel Mom

Hal loves a challenge; he represented Phil Spector in 2009 after his conviction, had Nancy Sinatra on the cover of Playboy at age 55 and breathed new life into 60’s folk singer Jackie de Shannon’s career. As Hal describes it, he has found “profound happiness” in his family’s decision to move to Beverly Hills. Hal writes about everything from celebrity sightings to moms in the carpool lane. When he promotes Beverly Hills, it’s from the heart.

Author Description

Cynthia Baseman

Cynthia Baseman is the author of 'Love, Mom: A Mother's Journey from Loss to Hope.' She writes about motherhood, the environment and education.

What a sweet little 'biography.' Us valley folks are resilient people (I grew up in Tarzana)!
And the education dilemma is a tough one for valley folks. The local high schools are pretty terrible - Taft, Birmingham, Canoga Park - and the good ones are a hefty commute for folks closer to the 405. I'd probably make a similar decision to Hal. :)

He writes press releases and has written extensively for Liz Smith, People...he's been written about in 'The Los Angeles Times' http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/24/sports/la-sp-oly-track-nick-symmonds-20120624